Teenage Dream
by Enchantable
Summary: All things considered, she's the last person he should feel safe with and he's the last person she should accept with open arms. Yet time and time again, Tyler and Caroline find that the only way to get through being not human is with each other.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay so I only recently got into the Vampire Diaries. Given my hatred of Twilight, I was hesitant to get into a show that had a vegetarian vampire. But then I was shocked at how awesome the show was. Obviously Damon is just freakin awesome but when I was watching 2x08, I was hit with inspiration for Tyler and Caroline.**

**I'm new to the Vampire Diaries and admittedly my watching has been focused far more on Damon and Elena (OMG love them) but these two were just so cute I couldn't resist. So beforehand I apologize for any OOC-ness but I figured they'd both be a little weird when Tyler's *ahem* monthly time rolls around. **

**So here you go! Spoilers for everything!**

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* * *

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Tyler Lockwood was dying.

There was no other explanation for the sickening, twisting pain that burned in his chest. It felt like his organs were liquifying, like his bones were softening, like someone had poured acid down his throat. He had tried to lay down but it was impossible to hold still. On some primal need he had to move, he had to run. But running when it felt like his stomach acid was eating his organs was not going to happen. So he was moving back and forth across the room, half doubled over an yet still moving more gracefully than he thought he ever had.

A spasm worked its way through him, doubling him entirely. He threw his hands out to catch himself, his hands connecting with the smooth wood of the desk. A harsh sound escaped his lips as he shut his eyes, breathing roughly through his nose as his hands ached viciously. He heard the sound of nails grating on the wood, his eyes flying open as he watched his nails slide through the wood of the desk, exposing the lighter wood underneath the stain.

"Oh God-" Tyler pushed himself away from the desk, staggering backwards. Any other time he would have landed on his back, but his knees bent and his legs moved and he crouched down with the same grace, "shit-" he swore, squeezing his eyes shut so that he could not have to look at the shifting of the bones in his hands. He clenched his teeth against the urge to scream as he felt and heard the sickening sound of his own bones shifting.

Gagging, he double over. He had already been sick more times than he could count in the past two hours, yet his stomach heaved and bile spilled on the rug. His forearms burned with the same sensation that had engulfed his hands, dropping him to the oriental carpet. Rolling onto his back Tyler pulled his arms to his chest, his back arching as his breath caught in his throat at the agony.

He was supposed to have more time.

It was barely five o-clock and he was crippled with pain. The _moon_ was supposed to change him, not the sun. His lower back suddenly seared with pain and as he rolled onto his side, that argument no longer seemed to matter. A howl caught in his throat as he turned his face into the carpet, praying for something to come and kill him.

He had this all planned out. He had chains and locks in his car along with bottles of water and energy bars, even some pain pills that he was beginning to think were little more than a joke. He had planned to drive to the slave quarters he'd found and lock himself up for the duration of the fully moon. That was what his uncle had done and Tyler couldn't think of any better ideas. He had been ready to go when the pain had started and before he could even make it downstairs he had been violently ill.

Turning his head, Tyler looked at the sun. However miserable this was, he knew that in a few hours things were going to get much worse. And that if he stayed here, he was going to hurt everyone. He had to get help, he had to-his thoughts were cut off as another wave of agony washed over him, leaving his elbows searing with white hot pain, even worse than the agony which had burned through his other bones.

Curling into himself, Tyler looked at the desk. It was some cruel joke that the beam of light from the window hit the phone on the desk. He had to get to the phone, he needed help. Inching his way forward, he fumbled his way to the desk. He got to his feet without the aide of his hands. As he tried to straighten up his ribs seared with pain, crippling him. Gasping through lungs that suddenly did not seem to want to work, Tyler managed to put his arms on the desk, stopping his descent.

His hands were shaking with pain as he moved his fingers forward, knocking the phone off the hook with his jaw. It hurt to press his finger to the number, enough so that he almost cried out. Even the light touch hurt but he forced himself to press the numbers. He needed help, even if dialing was one of the hardest things he'd ever done. His breath escaped in harsh gasps as he pressed his shaking hands to the digits, trying not to focus on how it felt like his finger bones were splintering.

The sound of the other line ringing was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard, beautiful enough to take away his focus from the violent shaking of his ankles. The phone continued to ring and the joy he felt was suddenly replaced by sickening dread at the same moment his ankles gave in and his knees slammed into the ground. With a sickening crunch his kneecaps gave.

His scream drowned out the peppy greeting that came from the other end of the line.

And then the world went black.

* * *

The scream that answered her greeting made Caroline drop the phone in surprise as her sensitive ears seared with pain.

Crawling to the edge of the bed, Caroline looked at the phone on the ground with distaste as her ears rang. She already had the volume turned as low as she could and half the time she had to hold the phone away from her. But for someone to scream like they were being killed on the other end, that was just strange. Especially since she knew that of the two men she knew who got themselves into that kind of trouble, neither of them would call her first. And they definitely wouldn't answer the phone with a shriek like that. Reaching out, Caroline picked up the phone and cautiously held it to her ear.

"Hello?" she asked tentatively.

Heavy, unsteady gasps for air greeted her ear.

"This isn't funny," Caroline said, "I've got caller ID you know," she said pulling the phone away from her ear and pressing the volume key to make the screen light up.

LCKWOODHM

"Tyler?" Caroline asked, bringing the phone back to her ear, "Tyler what's going on?" she questioned, pushing herself off the bed, "Tyler this isn't-" she began, turning her head to the wall.

Her eyes landed on the calender posted there, filled with important dates so she wouldn't forget. Each day had an X though it, leading up to the day it was. There was nothing special about the day, nothing that would catch her eye. Except for the small white circle denoting that there was a full moon that night. Caroline looked at the sunlight dappling the floor. It wasn't night, and yet the gasps on the other end of the phone made her think that didn't matter. Horror settled like a lead knot in her stomach as Caroline tore her eyes from sun.

"Hold on, I'm on my way," Caroline said quickly, hanging up the phone.

Throwing on her boots, Caroline shoved her phone into her pocket and grabbed her car keys. Running down the stairs, she got to her car. Stopping at her car door, Caroline forced herself to be gentle instead of pulling off the door. Stepping into the car she closed the door and turned the key in the ignition, pressing her foot on the gas and taking off down the road.

She felt sick.

This wasn't the plan. Tyler said he had everything taken care of, he'd refused to even consider her help when planning what he was going to do and every question she'd asked had been brushed off. Which she had thought was silly, after all she was the Sheriff's daughter. If someone knew how to properly lock someone up, it was her. She had even called him earlier but he hadn't picked up. So she had planned to swing by the slave quarters where she knew he was going to be and maybe stop by the Lockwood house tomorrow to check in.

Secretly she'd been grateful he had refused her help. Even the word 'werewolf' was enough to make her shiver after her last encounter with Mason Lockwood. But she had been willing to push that aside because Tyler seemed so, well, lost that she couldn't turn away. She knew she would have gone crazy if Stefan hadn't helped her through what occurred with her after being transformed. So she couldn't turn her back on Tyler, even if a bite from him would kill her.

"Hold on," she repeated, though if it was for her or him, she had no idea.

Pulling up to the Lockwood house, she parked, pulled the door open and got out of the car, glancing up at the windows. Seeing no movement inside, she walked over to the door and rang the doorbell, waiting a moment before ringing it again.

"Hello? Mrs. Lockwood?" she called, getting no answer.

Of course Tyler's mom wasn't home. If Mrs. Lockwood heard screaming like that she would have taken Tyler immediately to the hospital, which was the very last place Tyler needed to be. Grabbing the doorknob, Caroline twisted her wrist, easily breaking the lock and pushing open the door. She didn't need her heightened senses to hear the sound of something heavy hitting the floor, shattering glass on its way down. Pushing herself forward with her heightened speed, Caroline flew up the stairs and pushed open the door, breaking the lock without so much as a second thought.

"Oh my God."

Caroline froze in the doorway before she could stop herself, her eyes roving over the shattered glass and broken wood before landing on the crumpled, agony riddled figure on the expensive oriental carpet. Helpless and Tyler Lockwood were three words she never thought would go together. But looking at him curled around himself shaking like a leaf, helpless was the only word she had to describe him. She was paralyzed as she looked at him, until he let out a sound, his body twisting as if someone had punched him.

"Tyler!" Shaking herself out of her stupor, Caroline ran forward, dropping to her knees beside him, "Tyler-" she reached out and touched him before snatching her hand back at the heat of his skin, "what's happening to you? The moon's not out!"

Tyler let out a low, miserable sound before coughing violently, the sound in his lungs anything but comforting to her sharp ears. He seemed to be having trouble breathing and she could feel his heart racing. Caroline swore, of course he had no idea what was going on. And all she had to go on was Stefan's 'I don't know, sorry' and Damon's 'who the fuck cares? Make sure he doesn't try to eat us.' Taking a deep breath, Caroline pushed the stab of fear aside and pressed her hand to Tyler's shoulder.

"Tyler," she said, "you've gotta get up, we've gotta get you to the slave quarters. You gotta stand up," she repeated, "come on, I'll help you. Stand up okay?" she continued to babble as she gently pulled his arm away from his chest and guided it over her shoulder, "come on Tyler! Get up!"

How her words reached him she'd never know but his other arm slowly began to push him up. His strength was inhuman, so was hers. Slowly he pushed himself to his feet, leaning heavily on her for support. Every inch of him was burning and shaking and from the smell she could tell he had been sick. Pressing her lips together, Caroline wrapped her arm around Tyler's back and hefted more of his weight onto her body.

On some primal level she did not understand, the urge to run called to her. She had no business being there, not as a Vampire and certainly not as Caroline Forbes. Caroline had always been the rescuee, not the rescuer, and being a Vampire hadn't seemed to change that. Well, except for when she had pushed Matt away, but Caroline didn't think that counted. Caroline looked up at him. There was no-one else to call, no-one else who would help. Well maybe Stefan but he and Damon didn't know that she had told him she was a Vampire. It was just them.

"Okay, come on, lets get you to the woods, the slave quarters right?"

He nodded, his eyes not opening as they began to hobble out of the room.

With each step, Tyler's knees buckled, as if his kneecaps weren't able to support his weight. They looked like an entry into some three-legged freak contest. She knew how big Tyler was, and without her inhuman strength she knew it would be impossible to get down the stairs. As it was they barely made it down the long staircase to the ground floor and keeping them both on their feet took every ounce of Caroline's inhuman strength. Still she staggered the last few steps, fighting not to go to the ground and take Tyler with her.

"Okay we're almost there," she said. trying to inject some note of reassurance into her voice, "just a little further."

"M-" Tyler choked out. Caroline looked down at him, "my car," he said, exhaling roughly before sucking in a deep breath of air, "the chains, in my car."

"Where are your keys?" Caroline asked, "Tyler?"

"Table, by the door," he said.

Caroline leaned forward and grabbed the keys out of the bowl before nudging the door open and hobbling out into the sunlight towards Tyler's car. Caroline managed to open the door and help Tyler inside. His fingers dug into her shoulder as his eyes opened and locked with hers.

The gold color made her freeze.

Pressing her lips together, Caroline fought back the desire to show her fangs in response. Going all vampire on him was not going to solve anything, even if on some primal level she wanted to rip him apart before he had a chance to hurt her. But even with their bright amber-gold, Tyler's gaze was just as confused and miserable as she knew his normal eyes would have been. Instead of flashing her fangs, Caroline covered his hand with her own and smiled at him as nicely as she could.

"Its gonna be okay," she said, her peppy tone leaving no room for argument, "I'm gonna get you to the slave quarters and everything will be fine. You're just-" she squared her shoulders, "you're just going to have to trust me."

Tyler held her gaze for a minute before his eyes shut, his back arching against some new pain as his body continued to get closer to changing. Caroline quickly reached over him and buckled him in before closing the door and running around to the other side of the car, pulling open the door and getting in before starting the engine and pulling out of the driveway. Tyler leaned forward against the dash board, drawing his arms against his chest. Through the thin fabric of his t-shirt Caroline watch as his shoulder muscles contracted and shifted, bulging one moment and then shifting back as low, rough sound came from Tyler's mouth.

Tearing her eyes away from him, Caroline focused on the road. Even being a vampire was ill preparation for seeing someone's muscles shift like that. She remembered seeing Tyler's uncle and wondering how that had ever been a human. Now it seemed she was going to get a first hand look.

In his seat, Tyler fought the urge to scream again as his ribs ached and burned. He didn't know why his body was doing this, why it was happening when the moon was still not visible. But none of that seemed to matter as waves of pain crashed over him. How he was still conscious, he didn't know, and it was impossible to focus on anything else. All he could do was wait and hope that they could get to the old property in time.

Getting the car as close to the old slave quarters as she could, Caroline parked and hopped out of the car, coming around to Tyler's side and pulling open the door. Tyler was doubled over, his arms wrapped around his head.

The smell of cool air came through Tyler's nose. Even as his other senses went crazy, his sense of smell remained inhumanly sharp. He felt Caroline's touch on his shoulder blade. Forcing his eyes open, he looked over at her. Her eyes widened, her parted lips stilling and he realized that she'd been speaking but he hadn't heard her. Fear crashed over him as he looked at her surprised face but quickly the look vanished, her lips quirking up in a reassuring smile before she pulled his arm over her shoulders and eased him out of the car.

Tyler's legs buckled and though Caroline had inhuman strength the surprise and weight dragged them both to the ground. With a painful pop, noise rushed back to his ears. But it was sharper, louder than before. Tyler resisted the urge to press his hands to his ears, knowing that would only make his hands hurt more. Taking a deep breath, Tyler looked over his shoulder at the sun. It was lower, closer to dusk and while the agony was now a dull throb, the fear in his stomach was worse.

"The bag," he said, his voice hoarse, "get the bag-"

"Okay," Caroline said with a quick nod, running over to the trunk and returning with the black bag slung over her shoulder, "you seem better," she said cautiously.

"Its not hurting as much," he said, swallowing thickly, "I think-" he stopped, looking back at the sky, "we gotta hurry."

She nodded, easily slinging the duffle over one arm and bending down to help him to his feet. His body ached as she stood, easily hefting his weight on her slight frame. Despite how miserable he was feeling, Tyler managed to feel embarrassment at the fact that the blond girl had to practically carry him through the woods. But even as his body was not consumed by agony, his legs still seemed to be unable to support his body weight. He had never felt so weak in his entire life. He felt Caroline shudder against him.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked, looking at her.

"No," she said with a quick, reassuring smile, "you're just really hot-" she stopped, embarrassment making her look like the Caroline he knew, "I mean warm. You're really warm," she shook her head before focusing on the path ahead of them.

Together they staggered to the slave quarters as the sun got lower in the sky, Tyler's harsh breaths punctuated by the ominous clinking of the chains in the duffle bag. Even going quickly through the woods, it took them longer than it should have to get to the old slave quarters. They staggered down to the musky quarters, barely managing to make it down into the lower levels without breaking their necks thanks to the rough stone. Tyler staggered to the wall and leaned against it, resting his head against the cool stone.

"We have to keep going," Caroline said, the eternal cheerleader, "come on, you can rest up there."

Tyler looked at her. Rest was something he doubted he was going to get that night, but he did need to get to the gated part. Pushing himself from the wall, he staggered to the iron gate, Caroline hovering near his elbow but letting him move on his own power. Staggering the few steps into the enclosure, he leaned against the wall before beginning to slide down it, only to be stopped by Caroline's hands.

"Hold on," she said, lowering the bag and opening it, "I should do this before-" she trailed off, pulling out a length of chain.

"You have to get out of here," Tyler said as Caroline began to wind chain around his wrist.

"Let me finish this," Caroline said with a shake of her head as she straightened up and dragged the chain around his wrist up to the ring set into the wall, "here," she picked up his other wrist and wrapped the chain around it before locking it.

Tyler watched her wrap the chain around his torso, her touch gentle even as she handled the heavy, cold steel.

"I mean it Caroline," he said, taking a deep breath, "I don't know what's going to happen."

She glanced up at him before focusing back on the chains, locking them in place. Heading back to the duffle bag, she pulled out the water that he had grabbed and set three of the bottles down, picking up the fourth and uncapping it, turning to him.

"You need to hydrate," she said, as if either of them had any idea what they were talking about.

Tyler flexed his wrist but knew he didn't have the mobility to take the water himself. He looked up at Caroline who looked down at him, holding up the water bottle.

"Come on," Caroline said rolling her eyes, "Tyler you need to drink something."

It almost killed Tyler to part his lips and let her put the edge o the bottle against his mouth, tilting it so that water trickled down his throat. But it wasn't like he had a choice. This, however, was familiar territory. Him acting like a tough guy and her acting like as if he was just being silly. It was something they were both comfortable with, right down to the satisfied smile she gave him when she pulled the bottle away.

"There," she said, "now was that so bad?"

Tyler managed a half hearted glare as she straightened up and went back to the bag. He heard the crinkle of the energy bar wrapper before she straightened with it in her hand.

"No," he shook his head as his stomach twisted at the memory of him being violently ill earlier.

"Tyler," she began.

"I can't keep anything down," he said with a shake of his head, "something's happening to my stomach."

Caroline examined him sharply, her fingers tight on the silver wrapper. A part of her said that the only thing worse than being in the Lockwood slave quarters with a werewolf would be being locked in the Lockwood slave quarters with a hungry werewolf. But she doubted one energy bar was going to make the difference. And it had been taken enough to get him to drink water, she didn't think he'd stand for her feeding him.

"Right, of course," she said, rolling her eyes as if it was obvious.

Tyler nodded, his breath catching in his throat. Caroline turned and looked at him as he tried to take a breath and failed. His eyes widened as they locked with hers.

"Tyler-" Caroline began but he shook his head violently, willing her not to get any closer.

As if reading his mind, Caroline grabbed the bag, hurrying out of the enclosure and pulling the gate shut behind her. Tyler's head followed her every step of the way, as his breath fled in a rush before he gasped in more air, his lungs finally working. He watched as Caroline grabbed the last length of chain from the bag and wound it around the gate, locking it. In front of his eyes she gave the chain an experimental tug before dropping gracefully to the ground, crossing her legs neatly in front of her.

"Caroline-" he began, his words coming out in a gasp, "you have to-"

"I'm not going anywhere," Caroline said, "you're locked up by the sheriff's daughter and you're not going anywhere, and," she took a breath, "neither am I."

"Damn it," Tyler swore, his breath coming back in a rush.

It was on his lips to tell her that she had to go. That however bad things had gotten they were going to get way worse before the night was over. He wanted to remind her that one bite from him would kill her and he knew he couldn't do this alone. He wanted to tell her that he didn't want anyone to see him like he was about to be. A sobbing, screaming mess as his body changed like some horror movie analogy of puberty. But Caroline just sat there, as if there was nothing strange about what was happening.

"Shouldn't have called you," he said.

"Don't be silly," Caroline said without missing a beat, "who else would know how to chain you up so well?"

Tyler looked over at her, a rough smile tugging at his lips as she beamed back at him. Closing his eyes, he leaned back against the rough stone, finally letting his legs relax and his body slide to the floor, his limp hands dragging up as the chains pulled. Caroline scooted back and leaned against the wall next to him, the iron gate separating them.

He didn't care, the heat in his body was beginning to reach past the point of feverish and he knew, instinctually, that it was getting darker outside. Tyler took a deep breath, trying to steady the fear that was building with every pump of his heart. He swallowed and found his throat was tight, constricting even. When he opened his eyes the world looked different, sharper, and he knew his eyes had changed. There was a roaring in his ears, it felt as if an impossible current was pulling him out to sea. Turning his head, he looked at Caroline who met his gaze, her blue eyes softening.

"Thank you," he whispered.

Then the tide roared up and pulled him out to sea.

**

* * *

**

The smell was the first thing he noticed.

Cool, fresh, clean laundry and a gentle touch of perfume. His eyelids felt as if they had been glued shut, but he slowly forced them open. It took a minute for the world to come into focus, revealing the familiar shapes of his bedroom. Frowning, Tyler went to push himself up, only to find that every muscle felt as if he had been beaten repeatedly. He tried to grit his teeth against the pain, only to find that his jaw was just as sore as the rest of him.

"Hey," Tyler turned his head as the bed dipped gently, "you're awake."

Caroline's face came into view, cocked to the side so her blonde hair spilled over her shoulder. She was dressed in what had once been a simple white tank top and jeans, but dirt and dust stained her clothing and clung to her skin. It seemed strange to see Caroline covered in dirt and dust and seemingly unconcerned with either.

"What happened?" Tyler asked, even as his throat burned with pain, "how-"

"How did you get here?" Caroline asked, "I waited until you'd been, well, you for an hour and then I took you back here."

"You carried me," Tyler said, the idea of the blonde girl carrying him like a child making his stomach twist in an entirely new way.

"Well I didn't want to drag you," Caroline said with a smile.

Tyler looked away from her. He could feel that he was not in his jeans and t-shirt from the past night. Which meant that he had been changed. Carried, changed, he was like a fucking adult baby. And yet Caroline was making no move to tease him about it, as if she knew that this was something he was wildly uncomfortable with.

"Here," Caroline leaned over him and picked up a glass of water, "you should try to drink something."

Tyler gave her a look that clearly said he'd rather crawl into a hole and die but Caroline ignored him. She had known Tyler long enough to know that showing any kind of weakness was something he hated to do, even if it was perfectly justifiable. But Caroline understood boys enough to know that they could be perfectly ridiculous about any number of things that made absolutely no sense. Sliding her hand underneath his head, she helped him sit up enough to drink some water without choking. She could feel him try to tense his muscles and fail, even swallowing seemed to hurt him. When he stopped drinking, Caroline guided his head back down onto the pillow and set the glass aside.

"Was that so bad?" she asked.

"What happened?" Tyler asked, "the last thing I remember is you chaining me up in those slave quarters."

"Thats the last thing?" she asked, Tyler gave her a look, "you turned into a wolf," Caroline said.

"Thats it?" Tyler looked at her.

Caroline looked at him. He had turned into a wolf, that was what happened. But if he didn't remember how he had screamed, the sound of his bones breaking and re-arranging themselves, his humanity leaving as he became an animal. If he he didn't remember then she wasn't going to tell him. She wished that she didn't remember herself. Only the knowledge that the snarling, vicious wolf that strained against the chains and snapped at her as if she was something he wanted to eat, was _Tyler_ held her down in the slave quarters.

The change back had been just as agonizing, filled with just as many screams. Only half of them were howls, the worst of them were both. Finally Tyler had looked at her, his eyes human and familiar, then he had gone unconscious. She had waited for an hour on the other side of the gate, terrified that he was going to turn into a wolf again or start screaming. But he hadn't and, terrified out of her wits, she had unlocked the door and gone inside only to find that she was now alone, in the slave quarters of the old Lockwood mansion with a very unconscious, very naked Tyler Lockwood.

"Thats it," Caroline said with the most reassuring smile she could give, "hey, come on, lay down," she said as he tried again to move.

"I thought I was supposed to be able to heal," he said, relaxing back with a look of distaste, "my Uncle-"

"He'd been a wolf," she chimed in, "you're new to this," she looked down, "and besides," she said, "you are healing. Look."

Gently she pulled his arm out from under the sheets. His breath hitched as she maneuvered the limb up, holding it so that he could see the smooth, unblemished skin of his wrist.

"That wasn't like that an hour ago," she said, smiling as if she was proud of him.

Tyler tried to summon the strength to glare at her but settled for merely looking away. She was being so nice to him, even after what had happened. He had been determined to do this on his own and instead he had been reduced to a freak who called Caroline fucking Forbes for help when he turned into a werewolf. Caroline who had seen him pass out, be sick, scream, sob, go unconscious and God knew what else. And yet she still sat there like it was the most normal thing in the world, even though his entire body felt too weak to push her away. Weak was the one thing he had never thought of himself as. Weakness was the one thing that his father never would have tolerated from him.

"Did you eat?" he asked, forcing himself to look back at the blonde.

"Yes," Caroline said, "you didn't scare everything away so I was able to catch a few things," she shrugged, "I think there's something about Vampires and Werewolves, because my fangs wanted to come out all night," she smiled, "maybe those Twilight books were right, huh?"

"Oh God," he groaned.

"Don't be like that," she said with a playful pout, "Twilight's good."

"Twilight is not," he winced as he pushed himself up, "good."

"Tyler!" she gasped.

His arm shook violently but it held under his weight. Maybe he really was healing that fast. His body certainly seemed to be working on overtime. Reaching to his waist he pulled back the covers to discover he was dressed in basketball shorts and a white t-shirt, a far cry from the clothes he had been wearing last night.

"Where are you going?" she demanded, coming around the bed as he pushed himself to his feet, "let me help you-"

"I got it," he said with an ill-advised shake of his head, stopping the hand that hovered an inch from his shoulder.

His body did not want to walk, in fact he was pretty certain that it was pure pride that kept him on his feet. But between pride and the wall, he managed to hobble to his bathroom and close the door. Caroline leaned against the wall on the other side and folded her arms over her chest. It was weird enough taking care of Tyler when he was unconscious. Now he was awake and embarrassed and being exactly like she'd dreaded. She was already going to get her ear chewed off by Damon and Stefan for doing this, the last thing she needed was for Tyler Lockwood to revert back to asshole-mode.

It wasn't like she found the situation comfortable either. She was used to Tyler being the big, strong, unbreakable guy, not someone who sobbed and begged for death as his body changed back from wolf to human. She hadn't acted this weird around Stefan when she had been going though her own changes, but maybe it was just a guy thing, and Tyler was the quintessential guy. Frowning, she looked down at her skin and the dirt that smudged her. Aside from Stefan she didn't think she had ever been so dirty in front of her friends. She'd even managed to brush her hair before she met up with her friends in the hospital.

"Hey Tyler?" she called, "are you okay?"

"Yeah," came the rough reply.

On the other side of the door, Tyler ran his hand across his close cropped hair before raising his eyes to the mirror above the sink. His eyes were normal, no amber or gold or any spark of something less than human. He looked like an normal guy. He didn't even look tried. The disconnect between what he saw and what he felt was incredible. But even that disconnect was beginning to leave him. It was easier to walk over to the door and pull it open.

It was not, however, any easier to face Caroline.

"If you-" he began.

"I'm not going anywhere," she said, "we don't know what's going to happen to you in the next few hours. And besides, if your mom comes home she's gonna wonder why you look like that and I can help you cover."

"I was gonna say change," he said, "if you want to change, I've got clothes," he looked over, "and you can shower. If you want."

"Oh-oh!" Caroline looked down at the dirty clothes she was wearing, "okay. You don't mind?" she said, looking at him cautiously.

"I'll be fine for five minutes," he said. Caroline pressed her lips together as if she was trying not to laugh, "what?" he said.

"It may take you five minutes to shower," she teased, "but some of us like to be clean."

The smile he gave was half hearted at best. But it was the first smile she'd seen on his face and the one she flashed in return was blinding. She obviously already knew where his clothes were. Tyler focused his attention elsewhere, feeling weird about the whole situation. But there was nothing normal about the situation With his clothes under her arm, Caroline walked over to the door of the bathroom and looked at him.

"If you need anything," she began.

"Yeah," he said, "go shower."

"Yeah," she echoed with a playful smile, "I smell like a dog."

Tyler shook his head as the bubbly blonde stepped into the bathroom and gently closed the door behind her. Setting the clothes on the toilet, Caroline reached out and turned on the water, the smile slipping from her face. She had spent all night trying to be strong for Tyler, to make things as normal as they could be. When the truth of the matter was that she had spent an entire night with a werewolf that had lunged and growled at her. She had wanted nothing more than to run from what was happening, or to call Stefan and Damon. But she hadn't done any of those things. She had stayed there with Tyler for the entire night.

Stepping into the shower, Caroline stuck her head under the shower, wetting her hair and face. Picking up the shampoo and conditioner combo, Caroline wrinkled her nose in distaste, before she remembered that she had spent the night with her head against the stone of the slave quarters where there was dust and cobwebs and god knew what else. Lathering her hands, she began to scrub. Twenty minutes later, Caroline emerged from the shower smelling decidedly like a boy. Pulling on Tyler's basketball shorts and t-shirt, Caroline knotted the elastic tightly and stepped out of the bathroom.

Tyler was laying on the bed, pushed up against the headboard, looking out the window as if the sun was his worst enemy. When she closed the door he looked back at her cautiously. He really was healing quickly, especially if he was looking at her like he was that embarrassed. Feeling unusually bold, Caroline took her spot on the edge of the bed. When Tyler voiced no objection, she leaned backwards and sat beside him, stretching her legs out in front of her.

"So you survived your first night as a werewolf," she said, "how does it feel?"

"Like I got beaten with a tire iron," he said.

"Yeah, the rapid healing thing is overrated," she said, "it still hurts, but it will go away faster."

Tyler nodded but he did not seem convinced. Caroline rested her head on the headboard before looking over at him.

"How are you so calm about this?" he asked.

"I'm not," she said, "but I didn't turn into a wolf last night. Besides, you freaked out enough for both of us last night."

Tyler looked at her before shaking his head and looking back at the window. When he had called her he hadn't known if he had made the right choice, or if there was even anything she could do. But they were both alive and even if she had seen him in a way he never wanted anyone to see him, nothing truly terrible had happened. Tyler looked back over at her.

"Thanks," he said, the word of gratitude barely seeming to convey the magnitude of what she had done for him, "for everything."

"You're welcome," she said and he got the feeling she knew everything he was struggling to say, "so," she said brightening up, "wanna see if Twilight's on?"

As it turned out Twilight was not on TV, something or which Tyler was immensely grateful. He had his fill of werewolves and vampires for one night. They wound up compromising on some movie that had enough romance for her and enough action for him. And sometime though the movie, Caroline shifted closer to him and his eyelids began to get heavy, though he fought against the urge to sleep. He didn't know what he would see when his eyes closed. He was so focused on falling asleep he almost jumped when a warm weight settled on his shoulder.

"You're still really warm," Caroline commented.

"Don't you mean hot?" he asked.

"Don't push your luck Lockwood," she said raising her eyes to meet his before settling back against his shoulder, "watch the movie."

Tyler turned back to the TV but he didn't pay attention to the man who grabbed the woman in a passionate embrace as fire raged around them. He was too distracted by the warm weight of Caroline's head and the faint smell of what he assumed to be strawberry flavored lip gloss. Of all the things he'd never thought would happen, aside from being turned into a werewolf, sitting on his bed with Caroline Forbes watching some movie was pretty high on the list. But at the same time it was oddly comfortable, as if what they were doing did not break every high school rule.

As if they weren't a Vampire and a Werewolf.

Tyler's shoulder was actually quite comfortable, and he was wonderfully warm. Not burning like he had been before, but still warmer than anyone she had ever felt. She could feel him relaxing against her, though she knew he wouldn't want to go to close his eyes. But after a few minutes she felt his head lean against her, his breathing steadying out and falling into a stead rhythm. She hadn't meant to do it but her own eyes closed and before she knew it she had dozed off.

When she opened her eyes the light had changed enough to tell her that at least a few hours had passed. It wasn't like she needed sleep, and she hadn't felt comfortable enough to sleep for a few nights. But being nestled against Tyler's body-Caroline stopped. Nestled against Tyler Lockwood was one place she was certain she would never be.

Her body had turned towards Tyler, as if to get as much warmth from him as possible. One of Tyler's arms was wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer to him. His head had leaned back against the headboard while hers had slipped down onto his chest, her head rising and falling with each steady breath from his lungs. Her other hand was resting against his stomach, she could feel the tight muscles of his abs.

In front of them the tv was playing but the volume was soft. Caroline was struck by how right it felt to lay against him. The past few weeks she had been getting closer to him, as it got closer to the time when he would change. He was still hesitant to show her anything but strength, and she still found to strange that he saw her as something less than perfect. But dressed in Tyler's cloths, pulled against his side, Caroline didn't feel like a freak or even like a vampire. She just felt like, well, Caroline. Which was something she didn't feel like all the time anymore.

"Hey," Caroline looked up to see Tyler swipe a hand across his eyes, "what time is it?"

"I don't know," she said pushing herself up.

Tyler let his arm fall off her waist as she sat on her knees and looked over at the alarm clock. More than a few hours had passed since they had fallen asleep. Tyler swung his legs over the side of the bed and rubbed the back of his neck. Caroline looked at his back, taking in the way his hands did not tremble and his muscles did not tense as if they were in pain. Focusing her hearing, Caroline listened but his heart remained steady.

"How are you feeling?" Caroline asked.

"Fine," Tyler said looking back at her as he rested his forearms on his knees "I don't feel like anything happened."

"Thats good," Caroline said.

"Yeah," Tyler agreed, though he didn't feel convinced.

And the truth was he wasn't. Between turning into a werewolf and waking up with Matt's ex-girlfried snuggled against his side like she belonged there, the fact that he wasn't suffering waves of agony seemed wrong. Seemed like everything had been a dream. It was easy to push himself to his feet, though the odd grace that had made it impossible to fall seemed to have disappeared, leaving his body feeling oddly stocky.

"Do you need to feed?" Tyler asked looking at her.

"No," Caroline said, looking at him suspiciously, "do you?"

Tyler glared at her, an expression she was happy to return with one of her own. Caroline sat back on her knees and looked at Tyler as the werewolf walked over to the windows and looked out at the sun. After what happened, all Tyler wanted to do was be alone. Actually he wanted to shout at something, he wanted to know what the hell was going on. Why he had to be a werewolf. He wanted to take it out on someone or something. But taking it out on Caroline seemed, just, it seemed wrong.

"You're getting angry," Caroline said, a note of disappointment in her voice.

"I'm always angry," Tyler said looking back at her.

"Yeah but you're like really angry," Caroline pointed out.

"I just sent the past day turning into a wolf, Caroline," he said turning around, "I called you for fucks sake because I have no-one else to call and now I'm just supposed to pretend like what? Like everything's normal?"

"Well you could stop yelling," Caroline pointed out dryly, "and I'm Vampire, so I don't know what normal is Tyler, I just know that I'm going to be like this forever."

"Eternal youth," Tyler said sarcastically, "that sounds awful."

Caroline looked at him, feeling her eyes sting. The way he said it, as if it was a good thing that she would forever be stuck like this, it made her eyes sting and her throat tighten. In spite of her relationship with her mother, or maybe because of it, Caroline had dreamed that one day she'd have a husband and kids. But now she was frozen in time, she'd never have kids or a husband, she'd just always be like she was. Tearing her gaze from his, she rolled off the bed, walking over to the corner and grabbing her boots, pulling them on. Of all the things she had done, crying in front of Tyler Lockwood was one thing she'd never allow to happen. She heard Tyler exhale roughly before stepping forward.

"Caroline-"

"No," Caroline turned around and blinking back tears, "you're looking for a fight and I can't do that," she looked down at her boots, "not about what I am. Not now," she walked over to the bathroom and grabbed her muddy cloths before turning back to leave, only to find Tyler standing in the doorway of the bathroom.

"Wait," Tyler said, "look," he looked down before looking back at her, "you're right, I'm looking for a fight. But you don't deserve that. Not after everything. I'm sorry."

She looked at him cautiously and for a minute Tyler was certain that he'd gone and ruined any friendship he had. That she was going to throw him out of the way and walk off after being so wonderfully nice to him. Caroline's eyes moved over him, a part of her wanting to tell him that he could go fuck himself. But she thought back, Stefan hadn't lashed out at her even when she had murdered a man in cold blood, not like she deserved.

"Its okay," she said finally, "hey if you can't lash out when you've turned into a werewolf for the first time, when can you?"

Tyler looked at her.

"Why are you being so nice?" he asked.

"Because," she said, "its not that scary when you know you aren't alone," she smiled again, "even if you've got to make due with a vampire," Caroline looked at him, "can I come out of your bathroom?"

"Right, sorry," Tyler stepped to the side.

Caroline stepped out, looking at him carefully. Part of her wanted to run, but then again a part of her had wanted to run the entire night. Folding her cloths, Caroline put them in a pile before turning back to Tyler. He was looking at her, hunched over with his hands shoved into the pockets of his shorts.

"I'm sorry I snapped," he said again.

"Tyler its not the first time I've seen you pick a fight," Caroline said with a roll of her eyes.

"I know," Tyler said, "and being a-" he shook his head, "fuck, I'm a werewolf," he ran a hand over his face, "damn it. I can't-" he stopped and looked at her, "I can't do this," he said finally before looking away.

"Tyler," Caroline quickly walked over to him, "its okay," she hesitated for a moment before wrapping her arms around his still unusually warm body, "you made it through the hardest part."

It was not the first time that Caroline had hugged Tyler and just like every time before, the moment the sweet smell of her invaded his nose his entire body tensed. He wasn't the kind of guy who got a lot of hugs, and being hugged by someone like her was an entirely alien experience. But she wrapped her arms around him as if there was nothing strange, as if she didn't feel his body tense and his breath catch and in spite of every protest he had, his arms still came up around her slight frame.

"It'll be okay," she promised, her voice leaving no room for argument.

Tyler let himself believe her.

"I don't get it," he said, drawing back from her after a moment, "why are you being so nice about this?"

"Because," Caroline said, "its nice not to be alone."

And that was true, even if she did have two other vampires in the area. Damon and Stefan were used to being vampires and even if they remembered what it was like to be a new vampire. But Tyler got what it was like to have the rug yanked out from under you and still have to go through daily life acting as if everything was the same. As if it the world normal even applied to them anymore.

"Yeah," Tyler agreed.

Caroline looked up at him. His arms were still loosely around her waist and her own were around his shoulders. She could see the warm brown of his eyes, which was oddly like the heated amber of the wolf that he had turned into. And yet even though he was still huge and strong, Caroline knew that the man who held her had done everything in his power to get her to leave him, to protect her from what he had turned into.

Safe, protected, they were things Caroline hadn't felt in a while. And they were certainly not things she expected to feel with Tyler Lockwood's arms wrapped around her. Especially given that one bite from him could end her without so much as a second thought. Caroline was aware of everything, from the steady beat of his heart to the warmth of his arms, even to the breeze that blew from the window she had opened when she dragged him in, thinking that maybe the smell of the outdoors would be nicer than the cleaning stuff the Lockwood family maid had used.

He was going to kiss her.

She had been with enough boys to know what it meant when his eyes moved over his face. And she knew in a few breaths she would lean up and they would kiss. But the image of pushing Matt away, of knowing that Katherine had still gotten to him after everything she had done to try and protect him stopped her. After all Tyler had gone through, she couldn't put him through that.

"I actually should go," Caroline said, stepping back, "my mom will be coming home soon and if she sees me like this I'll have even more explaining to do."

Tyler let his arms fall to the sides as she stepped back, trying to ignore the cold that filled his chest. Immediately disgust filled him as he looked down at the ground. He was thinking about kissing Caroline Forbes after she had been nothing but nice to him. He was a fucking werewolf. The last thing he needed was for his one friend in the wold to push him away because he was acting like a royal dick.

Even if he did think that seeing her with her blonde hair in disarray, clad in his oversized t-shirt and basketball shorts was one of the hottest things he'd ever seen.

"Can I give you a ride home?" Tyler asked, trying to force down the roughness in his tone.

"I drove here," Caroline said, "but thanks."

Tyler nodded as she walked over and picked up her clothes.

"Is it okay if I-" she began, motioning to her ensemble.

"Yeah," Tyler said clearing his throat, "of course."

"Thanks," Caroline said.

"Here, I'll walk you out," Tyler said.

Caroline smiled at him as they left his room. It was easier to walk down the stairs without him leaning on her and the thought made Caroline's smile widen though she ducked her head to hide it. She didn't think Tyler was quite ready to make light of the situation. Digging into the pocket of her jeans, Caroline fished out her keys as they walked through the driveway to where she had parked her car.

"Thanks for lending me the cloths," she said turning to face him.

"Yeah, no problem," Tyler said, "thanks for everything."

"Of course," she said, "you know you can call me whenever," he nodded,

"Well, bye!" Caroline said leaning forward to peck Tyler on the cheek. But in an odd show of politeness he turned towards her and before she could stop it her lips lightly touched his.

Caroline's eyes widened in surprise and she jumped back, pressing her hands over her mouth. Tyler's own eyes were wide but his hands remained down by his sides. She hadn't meant to kiss him, and she certainly hadn't expected her first kiss with Tyler Lockwood to be like _that_. Not that she had imagined her fist kiss with Tyler Lockwood at all, well, except for the odd daydream she was sure every girl in their school had. And maybe when she'd woken up beside him. Or when he'd told her he was afraid-

"Oh my gosh, I-," she said, lowering her hands, "I-"

Before she could finish, Tyler leaned forward and kissed her.

His lips were gentle when they caught hers, gentler than Caroline would have thought given that it was Tyler Lockwood and the protest she had thought of dissappeared. His arm came around her waist, pulling her against his broad chest. Caroline breathed in the scent of his combination shampoo-conditioner and something almost wild, like the forest or the wind. When his tongue ran against her bottom lip, Caroline parted hers and let him deepen the kiss, leaning into his embrace as her hand fisted in the soft cotton of his t-shirt, pulling her body closer to his.

Finally he pulled away, his lips lingering against hers. Caroline held herself still as she felt the heat of his body, slowly opening her eyes to look at his wonderfully human ones. Opening her mouth, Caroline tried to speak and failed, her lips pressing together. And, before she could try to stop it or even think about what was happening, Caroline's face broke into a wide grin.

You-" she began before stopping, "you kissed me."

"Yeah, Forbes, I did," he said, his voice rough.

She knew they had been getting closer the past few weeks, and that she had pushed Matt away to protect him. But she never would have thought that she would kiss Tyler or that she'd enjoy it, despite what happened earlier in his bedroom. Even now his arm was still around her waist and her hand was still fisted in the material of his t-shirt. And yet Caroline found that she didn't want to move away from him. His eyes searched her face, as if he half expected her to move away. But she didn't.

After a moment's consideration, Tyler closed the distance between them and kissed her once again.

He could taste the faint strawberry of her lips, probably from whatever gloss she had been wearing, mixing intoxicatingly with the smell of his shampoo. She kissed him back eagerly, her other hand resting against his shoulder as her body moved closer to his. His arms tightened around her, as if he knew she wouldn't break, and she felt her fingers dig into his muscles in response to the slight show of strength.

They were so enthralled in each other that neither heard the sound of the car coming up the driveway.

"Shit," Tyler dragged his lips from hers, "my mom."

"Your mom?" Caroline squeaked, suddenly painfully aware of the fact that she was dressed in Tyler's clothes, smelling like his shampoo, "oh God-" she smiled brightly, "Hi Mrs. Lockwood!"

"Caroline," Tyler turned at the sound of his mother's voice, "did you go camping as well?" she asked, giving what Caroline could only hope was Tyler's excuse.

"Yes, Mrs. Lockwood, but Tyler was nice enough to let me sleep in your guest room. There's only so much camping a girl can take."

Tyler braced himself for the inevitable comments but none came as his mother straightened her immaculate black dress. And then he belatedly remembered that he was standing next to one of the only girls in his school that his mother actually thought well of, in spite of the fact that she was standing behind him dressed in his clothes. Caroline just hoped that she hadn't seen them kissing.

"I was never one for camping myself," Mrs. Lockwood agreed, "aside from the odd Safari," she glanced at Tyler before focusing back on Caroline, "but I am glad to hear my son has decided to be a gentleman," she closed the door to her car, "Tyler, help me with my bags?"

"Yeah," Tyler said before turning back to Caroline as his mother's high heeled shoes clicked up the driveway.

"I should get going," Caroline said, though she wanted nothing more than to stay there. Tyler nodded, stepping back as she opened the door of her car and slid inside, tossing her cloths on the passenger seat, "you're okay right?"

"Yeah," Tyler repeated, "I'm good," he added glancing back at the form of his mother reaching the entrance of the house and turning around to look at them, "I have to-" he moved his head towards the car.

She nodded, catching the swell of her bottom lip between her teeth as she looked at him, not sure how to say goodbye after what had just happened between them. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mrs. Lockwood open the front door and walk into the house. Turning back to Tyler, she leaned forward and kissed him lightly, pulling back before either of them could get into trouble.

"See you Monday Lockwood," she said, delighting in his shocked face.

"Yeah, see you Forbes," he replied, stepping back as she put her car in reverse and pulled out of the driveway.

Tyler watched her pull away, a smile on his face that he couldn't quite get rid of. Turning to his mother's car, he pulled the lone bag from the trunk, taking care not to slam the door when he shut it. He looked over his shoulder as Caroline's car went by, raising his hand when she beeped a farewell. Tyler watched her car disappear down the road before he walked back to the house.

"So," his mother said, "did you have fun camping?"

Tyler set his bag down and looked at her, not even trying to discern whether she thought camping was a euphanism for him having sex with Caroline Forbes. Either way, she was dead wrong.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be."

* * *

**And there you have it. My take on the whole Tyler's-a-wolf-thing. Hope you enjoyed it. Tell me if you want more.**

**Reviews are love!**


	2. Chapter 2

I have come to the conclusion that I enjoy beating up Tyler too much. So please excuse the self indulgent story that spawns purely from how my whump!fangirl would like Tyler to return.

**It's not 2x20 compatible but I started it before the episode aired and I enjoyed writing it too much not to post it. Obviously it's a combo of chpt. 1 and what happened in cannon, combined with my above-stated love for Tyler whump. **

**I also wanted it to be a bit more dramatic since I thought they were both a bit too calm throughout the episode. Between the revelation Matt's trying to kill Caroline and the fact that Tyler showed up WITH JULES, I wanted someone to get dramatic. **

**Here's to wish fulfillment. **

* * *

Caroline had long since given up trying to contain her vampire face.

Matt had left after kissing her on the lips and telling her he loved her. Each time he did that she felt her heart break a little more. He didn't know what she was. He had no idea. Even though they had a fantastic time at the dance, even though she felt beautiful and he swayed her perfectly to the music at the end of the night she had barely made it inside after her good night kiss before the tears started.

She had never felt more alone in her entire life.

Damon and Stefan wouldn't understand. Well maybe Stefan would, after all he'd used his blood to save Elena. But Matt had realized Vicki was killed by Vampires and she knew that even if Stefan saw things her way, Damon would kill him. The thought of it alone forced a miserable sob from Caroline's throat as she buried her face deeper into her knees. How was she supposed to fix this? Of the two other people she had told, one she had to compel to forget and the other-the other was gone.

Caroline tightened her arms around her knees. Tyler was gone. Not a word, not a note, nothing. Just like that. When she told him to leave she hadn't meant _forever_. Oh she was plenty mad, maybe she hated him a little bit, but he'd slammed her against a car and stood back while his friends tortured her and then pushed a gun to her head. Even so, the last thing that Caroline had expected was for Tyler to run away like a dog with his tail between his legs. A faint, miserable smile tugged at her lips as she thought about the face Tyler would make if he heard the dog analogy.

Then she thought about the face he would make if he saw her sobbing on her bed, unable to banish her vampire face.

Caroline blinked, tears still rolling down her cheeks but sobs blissfully seeming to slow in her chest. Raising her eyes, Caroline lifted her head until her chin rested on her knees. She hated how easily her thoughts turned to Tyler. It felt somehow wrong to think about him. Not just because of what he had done but also because even though she had known him her whole life it wasn't as if they were particularly close. And it had been her who told him to go away, not realizing that he would take her advice so literally. That he would go much further than just of her porch, that he would leave the entire state in his wake.

Her eyes went to her phone, sitting on her nightstand. Tyler had given it back and she had kept it instead of giving into the desire to get a new phone and change her number. But Tyler hadn't called, something that both relieved and annoyed her. She was relieved because she had no idea what she would even say to him if he called and, well, she was annoyed because she kept clicking to his number and chickening out, telling herself that he wouldn't pick up anyway. Figuring she could not possibly feel any more miserable than she already did, Caroline thumbed through the familiar listing and pressed the send button.

It only rang twice before the call was answered.

"Hello?" the voice that came though was most definitely not Tyler's.

"Hello?" Caroline sat up, a stab of fear going through her, "who is this? How'd you get this phone?"

"This phone was found in the parking lot three days ago. Do you know who owns this thing? It's been ringing off the hook."

"Yes," Caroline sad, "wait, three days ago?" she struggled to her feet, "I'm sorry, um, where are you?"

"Vermont," came the reply.

The stab of fear turned into a hard knot of dread. Tyler's phone was in the parking lot of a store in Vermont three days ago. Why had he only gotten rid of the phone then? He had been gone for a while. It made no sense for him to just one day decide to ditch the phone. Unless, unless he didn't just get rid of it. Unless something had happened. Thanking the man on the other end, Caroline gave her address and convinced him to send the phone to her. Glancing over her shoulder at the clock, she frowned at the hour before flipping open her phone and texting Matt to see if he had heard anything from Tyler. Though if the store clerk was right and his phone had been ringing off the hook, she doubted Matt had heard anything from him.

No-one had heard from him.

Chastising herself, Caroline ran a hand through her hair. She should have called him. She should have put aside the hurt and the anger and she should have hit redial until he got so annoyed he picked up. She was more than capable of pestering someone until she got her way, especially if it was a boy and even more if it was a boy who knew she was mad at him. But no, she had stuck by her anger and now she had a terrible feeling that Tyler was in trouble.

Worse, she had no way to contact him.

Just because he had been a complete asshole didn't mean she had to be one as well. If push came to almost-dying-shove, she liked to think she would be the bigger person and step in. But that was impossible if she couldn't find him. In the age of cell phones and facebook, it seemed ridiculous that she had absolutely no idea where the boy she had known most of her life was. Mentally she ran through the list of people she could call before quickly dismissing them, knowing that the Salvatore brothers were probably very low on the list of people Tyler would call.

Pacing the confines of her bedroom, Caroline let out a frustrated breath before dropping onto her bed. Her stillness only lasted for about a minute before she pushed herself up and strode over to her closet, pushing aside her clothes and reaching into the back. The oversized t-shirt and basketball shorts were in a tight ball from when she had thrown them back there in anger after Tyler had skipped town. Fingering the soft cloth of the hanes t-shirt, she fought the urge to hug them. Tyler had to be fine. She was just being silly. And the smell of him was not making her feel sad at his absence.

Frowning, Caroline lowered the clothing and sniffed. The smell was strong and it was not coming from the clothing in her hands.

The clothing in her hands wasn't full of wolfsbane.

Dropping the bundle Caroline raced down the stairs as fast as she could. Her mother was out on patrol so she used her vampire speed to get to the foyer. She could see a massive shape in the shadows of the porch. Shoving aside the desire to pause, to hesitate, Caroline raced over to the door, the sharp scent of wolfsbane driving her forward. Something was wrong, the dropped phone, the herb, all of it was so wrong. She should have been read for what was on the other side of the door.

But nothing could have prepared her for the state Tyler Lockwood was in.

Bloody, bruised and bigger than she remembered, Tyler was doubled over her door, gasping for air. His dark shirt was damp with sweat and she could smell the sharp tang of blood and something else, something more acidic that seeped through the fingers he pressed to his stomach. There were cracks in the paint from where he was gripping the door. His eyes were shut tightly as harsh, labored breaths escaped his lips.

"Tyler?" she barely recognized the breathless sound that escaped her lips.

Slowly his head rose and it took all Caroline had not to step back. The eyes that locked with hers were a bright, brilliant amber and Caroline knew that if her eyes had not already darkened with the desire for blood than they would have changed at the sight of them. Her befuddled mind worked backwards, counting the days to the last full moon. It was close but his transformation was days away. Which meant the amber was because he was hurt. Badly hurt. His lips parted and Caroline's senses reeled as blood slipped down his chin.

"Oh my God, Tyler!" Caroline shook off her stupor, reaching forward and pulling the injured werewolf into her house.

Immediately his hot blood began to soak through the thin fabric of her t-shirt, sending her already fragile sense reeling. She could feel his labored, wet breaths as they escaped his lips, sending more ruby flecks down the fabric and through her hair. Caroline sagged to the ground, turning him so that he was laying in front of her, propped up against her chest. She knew that if she laid him down there was a chance he was going to drown in his own blood.

She forced herself to look at his injuries, not to think about how sweet his blood would taste. Reaching blindly above her, she grabbed the nearest fabric she could find. Balling up the old sweater without a second thought, Caroline grasped Tyler's hand with her own. His fingers tightened over the ruins of his skin and shirt, though Caroline cold see his fingers were doing a poor job of staunching the bleeding. Carefully she grasped his hand, slowly sliding it away from the wound. Something that was far too easy considering his unusual strength. Replacing his fingers with the fabric, Caroline pushed down, eliciting a sickening groan from the werewolf's lips.

"What's wrong? Why aren't you healing?" Caroline demanded, her voice rising in fear as the pale fabric of the sweater turned quickly red, "who did this to you?"

"Wolfs bane," Tyler managed to get out, "they injected me-" his body convulsed, more blood spilling from his lips.

"Okay, just hang on," Caroline looked around, knowing her phone was upstairs. The house phone was in the kitchen. She could get to it but she was going to have to be fast, "I'll be right back," she said, picking up his hand and pressing it over the sweater, "hold on-"

"Wait-" Tyler's hand grabbed hers, his grip feeble, "I'm sorry," he said, his neck straining as he tried to look at her, "I'm so damn-"

"It's okay," Caroline said, giving his fingers a squeeze, "don't worry about that right now okay?" she carefully lowered him down and bolted for the phone, grabbing it off it's cradle and bolting back, sliding her body underneath Tyler's, sitting up up to help him breathe. Quickly she punched in Stefan's number, her fingers flying over the keys as her other hand pressed against the sweater, "pick up, pick up-"

"Caroline," Stefan's voice came through the line, "I was about to call you-"

"Tyler's here," Caroline cut him off, fighting not to cry into the phone, "he's badly hurt and, um, they gave him Wolfs bane and he can't heal," her voice trembled as her fingers tightened over the sweater pressed to Tyler's stomach.

"Alright, listen to me," Stefan said, his voice smooth and confident, as if this was an every day occurrence, "I'm going to be there as soon as I can. I want you to keep him conscious, for as long as you can. Can you do that?"

"Y-yes," Caroline nodded, listening to the confidence in Stefan's voice, "can I give him my blood?"

"I don't know," Stefan said, "wait until I get there."

Caroline nodded, hanging up the phone and putting it down before pressing her hands to Tyler's stomach once again. Her eyes moved down the length of his arm, taking in the blood that slipped down his tan skin from the numerous wounds. Caroline's eyes narrowed, one of her hands leaving his stomach and brushing the blood away on his forearm. Her stomach twisted at the neat puncture wounds crowded together on his forearm.

"When-" she began, "Tyler, when did they-"

"Three days," he choked out, "outside of vermont, they-" he cut himself off, a groan escaping his lips as his back arched, his head pushing into her shoulder.

"It's okay," Caroline said, one of her hands coming up to press against his forehead, stabilizing his neck, "help's coming," she closed her eyes as the smell of blood increased, "it's almost here. I promise. Just hang on, just for a little bit-"

It seemed like hours before Stefan got there. Tyler grew paler in her arms as more blood slipped from his wounds. It seemed impossible that so much blood could come from one person, let alone someone who had spent the past three days being fed on by vampires. She tried to keep Tyler talking but half the time what he was saying was lost to the necessity of breathing. Every rise and fall of his chest was a struggle but every rise and fall meant he was still alive.

A light breeze from the speed of his movement was all the notice Caroline had before Stefan was crouched next to her, his face immediately shifting to a vampiric one before going back as her reigned it in. His eyes swept over Tyler's form, the look on his face doing little to ease the knot of worry in Caroline's stomach. Her fingers tightened against the fabric of the sweater as she looked desperately up at the older vampire. His eyes studied Tyler for longer than she would have liked but Caroline didn't speak for fear of distracting him.

"What do we do?" Caroline demanded the moment his eyes rose to hers, "can we give him blood? He's a werewolf, will he accept it? Will it work?" her voice rose in fear, "What-"

"Caroline," Stefan cut her off mid-tirade, "I want you to hold him steady, alright?" Caroline nodded, shifting her grip as Stefan leaned forward, "Tyler," he called the werewolf's name, drawing his bleary gaze, "you aren't healing," he said, "my blood can help you," Stefan raised his wrist to his mouth and bit, breaking the skin, "you've got to drink."

Even as miserable and bloody as he was, Tyler gave Stefan a look that said he'd rather die than do it. Caroline tightened her arms around his body, resting her chin on his shoulder and silently praying that he'd let Stefan give him blood. That it would work and the young werewolf wouldn't bleed to death on the floor of her foyer.

It was difficult to get Tyler to drink the blood, mouth still filling with his own but slowly it slid down his throat. Caroline held him, praying that the blood would do its job. That he wouldn't start screaming and die. But y some miracle the blood took and before long his breathing was steadier and the thready pulse began to pick up a stronger rhythm. The heat of his skin increased as his body continued to recover, guided by Stefan's blood. If it had been anyone else she would have been terrified at how hot his skin was, but it was Tyler and she knew his high body temperature was a part of what he was.

Stefan's eyes caught hers and the concern in them was anything but reassuring. Caroline closed her eyes and focused on Tyler, listening to the steady thump of his heart and the measured rise and fall of his chest. After witnessing his first transformation, she knew when he was recovered enough to regain some kind of coherency. Moving her hand from his chest, Caroline reached up and touched his forehead, smoothing back his hair in a gesture she knew he secretly loved.

"Tyler?" she prodded gently.

She felt him tense against her, his muscles contracting as he moved away leaving her feeling cold once the incredible heat of him was gone. Slowly the werewolf moved, pushing himself to his feet. He swayed but managed to keep upright as Caroline and Stefan followed his movements. Caroline fought not to look down at the blood that spread across the floor, but it was impossible to avoid it. Especially when Tyler was covered from head to toe in the stuff.

The werewolf seemed to be finding the floor very interesting, shame written all over his face. The part of her that had been so furious at what he had done was suddenly eclipsed by the worry she felt when she thought he was dying in her arms. Hesitantly she took a step forward, only to see him shift his weight as if to move back away from her. Caroline bit her lip, looking over at Stefan who seemed to be staying out of it. Tyler had come to her for help but now, now he seemed to want to be anywhere else in the world.

"Tyler?" she tried again, desperate to get some kind of reaction out of him.

Slowly his eyes rose up to meet hers. The bright amber they had been was gone and in it's place was the warm brown eyes of the boy she had known since she was five years old. Something in her tightened at the sight of the despair she saw in them. The kind of despair she had only seen once before when he was turning into a werewolf. Their gazes held for one impossibly long moment.

Then his eyes rolled up and he collapsed.

"Tyler!"

* * *

The smell of 'vampire' ushered Tyler back into wakefulness.

It was a smell he had gotten far too aquatinted with in the past three days. The fact that he wasn't pressed into the wires of the cage he'd called 'home' was what made him pause. He was laying on a leather couch, the smell of animal hide a bit too comforting for his liking. He could feel the warmth of a fire nearby, the sensation of the flames dulled somewhat by the blanket tucked securely around him. Judging from the feel of the fibers he could tell he was in a t-shirt and basketball shorts, a far cry from the clothes he had been wearing which were becoming more and more stiff with his dried blood.

Opening his eyes, Tyler looked at the dark wood above his head. Blinking, he let his gaze drift over to the fireplace before going back to the wood. He felt off. Not weak, not strong, just odd. Frowning he tried to think back to his last clear memory. The last clear thing he could think of-

The sting of a needle in his arm, the feeling of wolfsbane moving through his veins as he screamed and begged for it to stop. The sickening feeling of something plunging through his skin, cutting so deep that he thought he could feel the burn of his own stomach acid eating at his organs.

Tyler bolted upright, his body jerking to end the memories as they crashed into him with the force of a ten ton truck. Continuing the motion he staggered to his feet, backpedaling until his back struck the mantle of the fireplace.

"Oh my God, Tyler!"

Which was apparently enough of a sound to bring Caroline running at full vampire speed. Tyler's eyes widened as he looked at the sight of the Vampire. In all the scenarios he had run through in his head of how she would respond to his eventual return to Mystic Falls, her looking stunned and maybe a little relieved to see him was not one he had considered. Though frankly he'd take anything over her slamming the door in his face and telling him to go to hell.

"Are you alright?" he demanded, seizing full advantage of her temporary relief before the anger set in.

"Am I alright?" she sputtered, surprise written all over her face.

"He didn't hurt you did he?" Tyler demanded, stepping forward.

Caroline looked at him as if he had grown another head but all Tyler could do was search her for injuries. He had been keeping track of time since he ha been captured but there were gaps. Gaps like the one between him being stabbed and waking up in a place that was not the back of a rapidly moving truck. Tyler stepped forward, moving past the couch and over to where the Vampire stood. All he could smell was Caroline, no injuries and only the slightest whiff of vervain.

"When did he give you vervain?" he demanded.

"Huh? No-one gave me vervain. I'm taking it to build up tolerance," she said, the shocked look on her face not waning, "how did you know I've been taking vervain, I'm swallowing it-" she stopped and shook her head, "Tyler what's going on? Who do you think is giving me vervain?"

Tyler continued to look at her. She was fine. Willingly taking vervain but otherwise fine. More than that she looked at him as if she was relieved he was alright and not surprised to see him. Which meant he had probably showed up on her doorstep looking less than fine. He fought the urge to swear. The last thing he had wanted to do was show up on her doorstep needing rescuing. Again. Something must have shown on his face because Caroline took a step forward.

"Tyler," she said, "what's going on? Who do you think is trying to hurt me?"

"Matt."

For a second Caroline was certain she heard him wrong. The idea that Matt wanted to hurt her was crazy. She had been keeping the secret for both of them, telling herself that it was better he didn't know. That it wasn't wrong to lie to him. But if he remembered, then he had been lying the entire time too. And Matt didn't do that. Matt was a good guy, a great guy. He wouldn't lie to her and he certainly wouldn't hurt her.

"What?" she looked at Tyler, fighting not to laugh at the crazy accusation, "Tyler, Matt doesn't even know what I am," she said, "why would he hurt me?" he opened his mouth but Caroline found the anger she had pushed aside and glared at the werewolf, "no, you know what, save it," she said, "I don't want to hear it. You think you can just come back here and hurl accusations around-"

"He called me Car," Tyler said, cutting her off.

Caroline's eyes widened, her lips parting to defend Matt but Tyler barreled on.

"He called me," Tyler repeated and Caroline looked away, "he's been taking Vervain, he knows what you are," Caroline's lips shut and Tyler continued, "he was saying some weird shit about how he was going to take care of-" he hesitated before continuing, "of you," Caroline's eyes met his, "he told me to call his mom if he didn't call me, he told me what to say to her-"

"No," Caroline shook her head, taking a step backwards, "no, no you're lying! Matt's a good guy, he wouldn't-" she shook her head, "he wouldn't _do_ that!"

Tyler looked at her, torn between relief at her safety and anger at the disbelief he saw in her eyes. She didn't believe him and though the rational part of him said that her reaction was understandable, the other part of him wanted to shake her until she realized he was telling the truth. He forced the desire back. The closer it got to the full moon the more difficult it was to control himself. Caroline looked at him, anger and desperation in her eyes and Tyler's stomach dropped to his toes.

"Caroline when did you compel him?" he questioned. Caroline shook her head and Tyler realized it was a while ago. Long enough that he had pretending for a while, "Car-"

"Just, don't," she shook her head, "there's got to be a reason for this. Someone must have compelled him or threatened him or done something to him," she smiled, "Tyler it's Matt. He wouldn't do that," Tyler was silent, "he wouldn't," she repeated.

"Damn it Caroline," Tyler swore, "he knows what I am!" Caroline stared at him, "he's working with the Founder's Council and he knows what I am. What you are. Our mom's are on the Council!"

Caroline pressed a hands to her mouth, shaking her head in disbelief at the impossibility of the situation. Matt working with the founder's council, her mom knowing she was a Vampire-she had compelled them both to avoid a situation like this. The only way she could think of it happening was if Matt went to her mother after she healed him and she gave him the vervain. But that was weeks ago. _Weeks_. Her mom, Matt, they had been lying to her, playing her while she acted like an idiot. Like everything was normal while they plotted to-to-

To kill her.

Desperately she looked up to see Tyler watching her carefully, tension written along every line of his body. He was worried about her reaction and worried and Tyler Lockwood were two things that rarely went hand in hand. Even so a part of her cried that it couldn't be true. Matt was a nice guy and her mom was a good person and the fact that she was _Caroline_ had to count for something with them. Lowering her hands, she took a deep, unnecessary breath and looked at the werewolf.

"Car-" he began.

"No, just-" Caroline shook her head, "I can't-" she looked up at him.

He nodded, understanding all too well how fucked up the situation was. Matt was a nice guy. He was still the decent human being that both of them pretended to be. The idea that he had been lying for weeks, that he was planning to hurt Caroline, it was enough to send both of them reeling. Slowly Tyler leaned back against the leather of the couch, fighting the urge to bolt the house or at the very least to pace back and forth like a caged animal. Caroline stepped further into the room, her fingers lacing together in a nervous gesture Tyler was more than familiar with even as the worry left her face.

"Your phone's on its way here," she said finally, breaking the silence with the most normal piece of conversation she could think of. Tyler looked at her incredulously, "I called you, right before you got here, the guy on the other end said he'd send it."

"You called me?" he asked.

"Yes," Caroline said, "I got worried," she added. He still looked at her as though the fact was surprising, "why is that so hard to believe?"

"I thought you hated me," he said, shifting his weight uncomfortably.

Caroline opened her mouth to tell him that while she was livid, furious and wanted to wring his neck, hate was a bit of a strong term. But as she looked at him shifting his weight uneasily, his eyes moving as if he wanted to run as far away from the room as he could, she realized that Tyler Lockwood probably had never had a girl care enough to be so angry but eventually forgive him. Tyler was a one night stand kind of guy. He was the kind of guy who still stiffened when she hugged him. Somewhere deep inside Caroline felt the hard anger she'd been carrying around loosen.

"I was upset," she said, fighting not to smile when his head flew up and hope flared in his eyes, "but I didn't hate you. And I didn't expect that you'd go so far when I told you to get out of my house."

"Yeah," Tyler scratched the back of his neck, "I didn't think I'd get that far either."

"Why did you go?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"I had to go," he said, "after what I did, to you and to Elena, I couldn't stay here when it was so easy for me to hurt everyone," he looked down, "I left with Jules because she was the only werewolf left."

Caroline stiffened at the mention of the female werewolf's name, her mind going back to the musky winnebago, to the cage where Brady had sat there and riddled her with bullets like it was nothing. Like she was nothing. Something must have shown on her face because Tyler didn't let the silence stay.

"We went up north," he continued, "the colder and more secluded a place, the more likely there are to be werewolves," he shrugged, "the cold helps. So does the open space."

Caroline nodded as if that made perfect sense and Tyler tried not to think about how he had freaked out when the other werewolves had told him that they didn't change locked up in basements, half out of their minds with Wolfsbane. They changed in the open, they ran in the open, up in areas where it was so cold and isolated no humans came in. They perpetuated the myth of ghosts, their own screams helping to further the rumors. He thought they were crazy but they thought he was the insane one, taking Wolfsbane, living around people and keeping a Vampire with him when he Changed.

Well, they may have thought he was crazy but Caroline had an entire Pack up near Alaska who thought she was pretty much the coolest Vampire next to a Werewolf-sympathizing Original.

"How was your second time?" she asked finally.

Tyler shrugged, unwilling to comment on his second Change. He had been drunk for the entire week leading up, drunk and furious as he prayed that there would be a way to prevent the change. But come the full moon he had dropped like a ton of brings. No wolfsbane, no chains, just the constant, molten burn of the change, punctuated by the snapping of bones and the feeling of fur pushing through his skin. It was only after that he realized how helpful Caroline's cold touch was during the transformation.

"Hard," he said finally when she continued to look at him, "I didn't take the wolfsbane. I was more lucid during it," he stopped, "it lasted longer."

"How long?" she asked with interest, "last time it was only about two hours."

"I changed back just before dawn," he explained, "wait, two hours?"

"Yeah, just about," Caroline said, "then you changed back, I waited another hour and took you home," she looked at him, fighting the completely irrational urge to smile at his obvious discomfort and surprise, "it took you a few hours to wake up."

Tyler gaped at her. Her words made sense but it was still embarrassing as hell to think that he'd been unconscious for that long after becoming a werewolf. He told himself the burn on the back of his neck was not a blush. It took a hell of a lot more than a pretty girl fighting a smile to make him blush. When the blush reached his cheeks, a giggle escaped her lips before she clapped her hands over her mouth.

"Laugh it up Forbes," he said with a shake of his head, "I stayed conscious the second time."

"Sorry," Caroline said, lowering her hands with an apologetic smile, "I just think before this the only time I ever saw you unconscious was that Freshman football game when you got tackled by those seniors."

Tyler grimaced, somehow not feeling any better about the situation. He had gotten tackled, knocked unconscious and had to be carried off the field. He'd been so humiliated that after locking himself in his house for the weekend, on Monday he'd pummeled three people before walking through the doors partially to get himself suspended so he wouldn't have to face everyone and partially so that everyone would know he was tougher than them. Even if he did have to be carried off the football field on a stretcher.

"Tyler?" Caroline stepped forward as Tyler's gaze seemed to go far away, "what is it?"

"You remember what I did on Monday?" he asked. Caroline nodded, "the others said that the anger's part of being a werewolf. That if you don't activate the curse the anger just builds without any kind of check until you turn out like my Dad."

Caroline looked at him carefully. Tyler's gaze was on the floor but slowly rose to glance at her. Tyler rarely spoke about his father, even after the man died. Caroline had seen firsthand what kind of relationship Tyler had with his father, even if the werewolf never wanted to talk about it. Unconsciously she took another step forward, slowly closing the distance between them.

"But you triggered the curse," she said, "so you won't be like that."

"No," Tyler said, bitterness edging his voice, "instead of being an abusive asshole I'll just be a murderer-"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Caroline closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around him. In spite of the honesty in his words she was still unwilling to let him think of himself in those terms. As always he stiffened in her embrace, the feeling of being hugged still alien to the young man. But as always, after a moment his arms came up to hesitantly wrap around her slight frame, taking care not to squeeze her too tightly though they both knew it would take a lot more than that to hurt her.

"You're only an asshole some of the time," Caroline said, drawing back with a smile.

"Look, Caroline, about what happened with Jules and the trailer-" he began, "I should have trusted you. I was so-hell, I don't know, excited maybe-to have other Werewolves around I was an idiot. After what you did I shouldn't have let them hurt you."

"You're right," Caroline said, her gaze hardening, "you shouldn't have. And you shouldn't have just run away like that," she continued.

"You told me to get out of your house," Tyler pointed out.

"I didn't mean that you should leave the whole state without a word to anyone!" Caroline cried, "do you have any idea how worried I was about you?"

"No," Tyler said after a minute, "i mean, Christ Caroline, we've never been close enough for you to be so pissed off at me."

"I've been mad at you before!" Caroline protested.

"Yeah but I never cared that much," Tyler shot back.

Caroline glared at him, a gesture Tyler seemed all too happy to return, though thankfully his eyes remained distinctly amber free. Caroline fought the urge to point out that they had known each other since they were kids, that the idea he didn't care at all was totally insane. Worse, she had to restrain herself from pointing out that when he did care, she wound up in a cage riddled with wooden bullets and vials of holy water.

"You never cared? That's your excuse?" she demanded crossing her arms before gesturing, "nice, Tyler, you know the fact that we became close a few months ago doesn't change the fact I've known you since I was five!"

His hand caught her arm, his grip warm and firm and way more gentle than Caroline thought.

"Wait, that-that came out wrong," he said, "of course I cared-" he stopped, frustrated, "just-"

Just not like he did now. Not when he thought she was blonde, obnoxious Caroline who loved too much without realizing people didn't love her back. She was the girl who turned Matt into a 'we' person, the girl who his mother kept lamenting someone else snatched up.

"I didn't know you then," he said, his fingers tightening around her arm, "not like I do now."

Caroline held his gaze before nodding her agreement.

"And I'm sorry for what I did to you," he continued, "what i let them do to you. No excuses. I was an asshole and I made a huge mistake that wound up hurting you. You're the last person who deserved that crap after what you did for me."

"Tyler-" Caroline began before hesitating at the earnest look in his eyes, "okay," she said finally.

"Okay?" he demanded, "you're just going to forgive me like that?"

"Tyler you showed up half dead on my doorstep after I had a conversation with a store clerk in Vermont that if I wasn't already dead I'm sure would have given me a heart attack. So for right now, you're off the hook. But don't think I'm not going to find a way to get you to make it up to me."

Tyler looked at her face, trying to figure out if she was lying before nodding.

"But just for the record," she said, "I didn't hurt your Uncle. I was barely even a Vampire then."

Tyler's eyes narrowed at her words, his mind going back over that time. His father's death, Mason's return, finding out about the curse. All of it seemed to blend together in a chaotic mess. In spite of that, he could pinpoint Caroline at everything. Always in the periphery, the blonde girl with a big heart who never seemed to quite get what she wanted. Dependable, almost-perfect Caroline Forbes who might have been the only girl in Mystic Falls his mother approved of. The only time he couldn't picture her was at the funeral. She had still been in the hospital-

She'd been in the hospital because of the car accident that he had caused.

In the hospital, injured enough so that for the first hours they had all been scared after Sheriff Forbes had come out and told them the doctors would do everything they could. Everything that would probably not be enough. But she had healed. Miraculously, they had said. Suddenly the room seemed unusually hot. Uncomfortably, Tyler paced before stopping and looking at her.

"Caroline when did you become a Vampire?" he asked, a strangled note in his tone.

Caroline looked up at him, her eyes guarded and Tyler wondered if he had crossed some kind of Vampire taboo. A soft sigh escaped her lips and he realized that he didn't give a shit if it was taboo or something. If it was the car accident where he had been driving that put her in that position, he wanted to know. He had to know.

"You have to promise me you aren't going to freak out, okay?" Caroline said and his stomach dropped. Tyler nodded, "you remember the car crash? When the Founder's Council used that device?"

"Wait, the car wreck where _I_ was driving?" he demanded, his voice making Caroline think that his earlier promise not to freak out was about to be broken.

"Yes, but its not a big deal," she said, wishing she hadn't said anything. Horror flared in Tyler's eyes, "it was the Gilbert Device," she said quickly, "you didn't have any control over it," she looked at him anxiously.

Tyler looked at her, the sick feeling in his stomach growing. He had been driving. He'd watched her collapse and listened to the bad prognosis at the hospital. Before either of them knew about Vampires or Werewolves or Witches, he'd just been the idiot who lost control of his car and nearly gotten his best friend's girlfriend killed.

Except it hadn't been 'nearly'.

She'd been in the hospital because of him. She'd had Vampire blood in her system because of him. Katherine had a clear shot at killing her because he'd lost control of the car. Tyler looked at her before looking away, unable to meet her eyes. There was no air in the room. He couldn't breathe. All he could hear was the dull echo of his own heartbeat and Sheriff Forbes's voice telling him that the doctors would do everything they could.

"Tyler it was Katherine," Caroline said, "Katherine and the device. It wasn't your fault."

"Wasn't my fault?" Tyler rounded on her, "I was driving. I lost control-you only had the blood in your system because I got you hurt enough to need it," Caroline looked down, confirming what he was saying, "holy shit," he shook his head, the weight of what he had done crushing him, "I can't-" Tyler started for the door.

"Please don't go!"

Though everything in him wanted to run, his feet stopped at the high, frightened demand. Slowly he turned his head, just so that he could see her out of the corner of his eye, making sure she knew he wouldn't run away while she was speaking. He'd killed her, he at least owed her that much.

"My mom is trying to kill me. Matt's been lying to me for all this time and he-he wants me dead too," her throat tightened, "if you leave-" her voice broke, "if you leave then I'll-" she gasped, "I'll be-"

He crossed the room faster than she would have thought possible and gathered her in his embrace. It took nothing more for the tears to break free as she buried her face in his chest and sobbed helplessly. He shoved aside the fact that the girl in his arms had always been the one to initiate their embraces, that he had never actually comforted a girl in his life. That he had never cared enough before to bother. Instead he tightened his arms around her slight frame and tried to figure out what he could do-short of leaving her house, tracking down Matt and Sheriff Forbes and beating them until they couldn't hurt Caroline anymore.

Over the crown of her head, he saw Stefan step into the hallway. The older Vampire glanced at the pair of them, his eyes softening before he crossed the hallway leaving them in private again. Tyler unconsciously tightened his arms around Caroline as her breath hitched before the sobs took hold of her again. It seemed like hours before the sobs were reduced to sniffles and even then she kept her face buried in his chest-something Tyler hoped was part of what girls did when they cried. Her head turned slightly, pressing her cheek to his chest. His arms tightened further, closing the small space created by the shift in movement. A soft sound, not quite a sob but not quite a sigh escaped Caroline's lips and Tyler could only hope he was reacting in the right way.

"Caroline?" at the soft inquiry of her name, Caroline pulled back and quickly wiped her cheeks before turning to face Stefan, "I put you in the room at the end of the hall," he said before turning to Tyler, "I have a room prepared for you as well."

"It's cool if I stay?" Tyler asked, surprised at the older Vampire's offer, "after-" he trailed off.

"Of course," Stefan said, "Tyler, I understand how difficult it is to become a Vampire, I imagine it's the same for being a Werewolf. I don't fault you for reaching out to your own kind or acting irrationally during that time. We've all done that."

Tyler looked at Stefan and wondered how he could have thought the young man was sixteen. He looked positively ancient standing there, like someone with enough experience to be able to forgive another person for almost killing them. It was shocking and humbling, especially since for a long time Tyler thought they were the same age. Keeping his hand on Caroline's waist, he summoned his courage and looked at the vampire.

"Matt knows about you and about me," he said, "he's already told Sheriff Forbes and the Founder's Council. He called me to tell me he was going to try and kill Caroline but I'm guessing they'll try to come after you and Damon next."

The flicker of surprise in Stefan's eyes was unmistakable but one look at Caroline's still teary face the older Vampire pushed it away, once again looking very calm, very assured and very old. As if it was every day that people conspired to kill him.

"You'll stay home with Elena tomorrow," Stefan said, "if they're going to try anything it will probably be at school."

"Huh? No!" Caroline protested, "I have to be at school in case Klaus tries something on you."

"We'll figure something else out," Stefan said, shooting her down, "we can't risk you-"

"I'll go with her," Tyler spoke, not fully understanding what was going on, only that Caroline needed someone to be with her, "Matt knows what I am but he doesn't get it. Not really," he shrugged, "and I beat him up once before."

"Tyler," Caroline began, "no. You-" he looked over at her, "you don't understand what's going on."

Tyler looked over at her and Caroline couldn't look away. A part of her desperately wanted to explain everything but she remembered what happened the last time. Even with Tyler's unusually warm arm wrapped around her waist, she was certain the moment she told him he was going to run away again. Caroline didn't know if her bruised, undead heart could take something like that again.

"I'm not going anywhere," the werewolf said firmly, "and after what happened earlier, I'm already involved with this. So what's going on? Does this have something to do with that curse they need to kill Elena for?"

"It's not just Elena who needs to die for the curse to work," Caroline said before Stefan could reply. The older vampire closed his mouth as Tyler focused on Caroline, "come on," she said, leading him back into the living room.

The story came out clearly, punctuated with Caroline's familiar gestures and emotions. A part of Tyler felt detached, like this was some gossip she was cluing him in on at school. A story where he'd nod and pretend to care because if he didn't Caroline would yell at him and even if they had never been close, Tyler had never particularly liked seeing the blonde girl upset. But this wasn't gossip. This was a very old Vampire trying to break a curse that would mean the death of many people, not the least of which was Elena Gilbert who was just about the last person Tyler could think of who deserved to die.

When the story finished he sat there, trying to take in everything Caroline had just told him. The blonde stood in front of the fireplace, her fingers twisting themselves into knots as she stared at him, half certain he was going to freak out wolf-style and run for the door. Maybe this time he'd leave the whole country behind. But Tyler remained firmly on the Salvatore's leather couch, his fingers clenched around each other. Caroline bit her lip, looking between him and Stefan anxiously before Tyler let out a breath and his hands relaxed.

"If I'm the only werewolf in Mystic Falls, won't that make this whole break-the-curse thing easier?" Tyler asked.

"It's a good bet whoever grabbed you works for Klaus. Now that he's made it clear his intention is to break the curse, no matter where you go there will be a certain amount of danger until this is over."

"Which means you shouldn't go," Caroline said firmly.

"Car-"Tyler began before falling silent and nodded.

"She's right, it's best that you stay here. The older Vampires here are able to Compel the younger ones, like Caroline, Damon and myself. But there' a good chance they won't be able to Compel you."

"They can't," Tyler said, "one of the Werewolves i met up near New York ran into one of the old Vampires. Originals he called them. The Vamp tried to compel him and failed," Tyler frowned, "but if this Klaus guy is in Alaric's body then he doesn't have to be invited in."

"That's right," Stefan confirmed, "we have no reason to think that Klaus would have any interest in your mother," he added at the stab of fear in Tyler's eye, "Right now he's just here to get everything ready for the next full moon when the ritual can be performed," he hesitated for a moment, "but if he's provoked then things might be different."

"What are you saying?" Tyler asked.

"I need to know if any other werewolves are going to show up," Stefan said.

Tyler sternly told himself it was a perfectly rational question. After how quickly things had gone to shit last time, it made sense Stefan would want to know what to expect. Unfortunately focusing on the rational side of thing didn't lessen the overwhelming desire to pound the Vampire and remind him that if he had left Mason alone nothing would have happened in the first place.

A soft, cool hand laid over the fist he hadn't realized he was making as Caroline sat on the couch next to him. Her leg was pressed against his and even through the thin fabric of her pajama bottoms he could feel the cold temperature of her skin. He forced himself to think about that, not about the desperation to pummel Stefan or the knowledge that this situation was only going to get more fucked up.

"Yeah," he said finally, "they're going to smell the Vamps who took me. It won't take much for them to come here," he hesitated before speaking, "I can get rid of most of them," he continued, "the ones who'll stir up trouble. But some of them have to stay. They've got just as much a stake in this as the Vamps do."

Stefan opened his mouth before closing it, considering his words carefully before he finally nodded.

"Alright. But they need to be willing to work with us," Stefan said. Tyler opened his mouth, "I'm serious Tyler," Stefan said sternly, "Klaus is adversary enough and I will not let you bring people into this town to hurt Elena."

Tyler looked at the anger in Stefan's eyes, surprised to see how even the threat of someone hurting Elena was enough to infuriate him. It was far too passionate to come from a seventeen year old's lips. Then he remembered what it was like to see Caroline in the cage, her own blood staining her t-shirt from where the others had tortured her and suddenly it didn't seem too passionate at all.

"Only the ones who are willing to work with Vampires," he agreed, glancing over at Caroline who smiled even though the worry stayed in her eyes, "I'll tell whoever else shows up to get lost."

"Thank you," Stefan said.

"What are you going to do about the Founder's Council?" he asked, hating the way Caroline stiffened beside them.

"Chances are they're taking Vervain. We'll cut off their supply and wait until it's out of their system. Then we'll Compel them to forget."

"Even my mom?" he asked.

"Yes," Stefan said, "if you want to tell your mother what you are, that's one thing. But having her knowing what my brother and I are, what Caroline is, that's something we can't have."

"Do you think you want to tell your mom?" Caroline asked.

"I don't know," Tyler said.

He'd been so relived to know there was a reason his father was the way he was, why he was the way he was, he thought his mother at the very least deserved that. But his mother was the only parent he had left and as much as he wanted to tell her the truth, the idea that she would hate him because of what he was made him feel sick.

"It's late," Stefan said, once again sounding older than Tyler was used to thinking he was, "you're still recovering," he said looking at Tyler, "you need to rest."

Tyler nodded, slowly getting to his feet. He turned towards the bedrooms that Stefan had pointed out before stopping and turning around.

"After what I did, why'd you save me?" he asked.

"Like I said," Stefan said with a faint smile, "we were all human once."

Tyler nodded, though it was hard to believe that Stefan Salvatore had struggled with anything-including becoming a Vampire. Caroline smiled at Stefan before walking over to him.

"Come on, I'll show you where you're sleeping," she said, leading him down the hallway.

Tyler followed her down the hallway to the bedrooms. He knew that Stefan and Damon lived in a boarding house, but plenty of old houses in Mystic Falls had been different things at one point or another. Apparently the Salvatore house was getting a lot closer to it's roots, though he doubted that whoever owned the house before Damon and Stefan could think that it was going to house three Vampires and a Werewolf. Caroline stopped outside a door and turned to face him.

"This is you," she said, "and that's me," she added motioning to a door nearby.

"Okay," Tyler said. Caroline smiled and turned to go, "Car, are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm alright," Caroline said bravely. Tyler opened his mouth but she barreled on, "you need to rest. We'll figure everything out in the morning."

Closing the door, Caroline turned and pressed her back to the wall and slid down, drawing her knees up to her chest. Tyler was back, back and willing to work with them. Matt and her mom were trying to kill her. The mix of emotions made her head spin as she hugged her knees. She wanted to focus on the fact that Tyler was back. He was back, he was sorry, and she realized she didn't hate him like she'd thought. But all her mind kept going to was the moment before she left for the 60s dance when Matt had refused to kiss her in front of her mother. Their eyes had held for just a fraction too long and Caroline had thought it was just in her imagination.

But it wasn't.

Her throat tightened as tears threatened her once again. Burying her face in her knees, Caroline fought the desire to cry. She had cried so much, she knew if she kept it up her face was going to be all red and splotchy in the morning. Everyone would know she had been crying. She fought back the desire as her breath hitched and her body shuddered with the restrained sobs.

The door opened and Caroline shoved the threatening tears aside.

"Really, Stefan, I'm fine-" she began before trailing off.

"You're a terrible liar Caroline," Tyler said moving into the room, "you always have been."

Caroline bit her trembling lip.

"I can lie," she said defiantly, though he gave her a look that clearly said she could not, "this is so stupid," she said swiping at her cheeks, "God, I don't even know why I'm still crying!"

"Matt's an idiot," Tyler said. Caroline gave him a watery glare, "he is," Tyler said defensively, "after-" he stopped, shaking his head.

"After what?" Caroline asked, her heart doing a odd flip as Tyler looked away.

Slowly Caroline pushed herself to her feet, her heart thudding in her chest. If there had been pockets in his short Caroline knew he'd have shoved his hands into them. He was nervous. Caroline almost smiled. Tyler was rarely nervous and much like being scared, he hated being it. She hated seeing him scared, especially about something he was powerless to fight, but seeing him nervous was actually kind of cute. Big, hulking Tyler Lockwood who fought first and asked later was looking borderline bashful.

"Tyler?" she prodded.

"I talked to Matt before I left," Tyler said quietly.

"Yeah, he told me," Caroline said.

Tyler's stomach plummeted for the thousandth time that night. Matt had _told_ her. Told her everything? She knew he fell for her, that he thought she was incredible? Tyler felt sick. He'd never said those things to a girl before and he certainly never thought that she would hear it from someone else. Caroline was looking at him like it was no big deal and Tyler wondered if it was possible to die from humiliation. He should remembered it was never a good idea to do those big, emotional gestures. Especially not through a third party like Mystic Fall's newest asshole Matt Donovan.

"Look I didn't mean-" he began before stopping, "no, I mean, I did-" he stopped again as she looked at him blankly and Tyler thought maybe she was pissed off that he confessed his feelings and booked it with the werewolf who tortured her, "I'm sorry if it weirded you out."

"Huh?" Caroline looked at him, surprise on her face, "Tyler what are you talking about? Matt just said-" she trailed off, confusion sparking in her eyes as she slowly pushed herself to her feet, "he just said you said goodbye," she finished.

"Damn it," Tyler swore.

He wasn't sure if he was happy or pissed off at the fact Matt hadn't told her about his stilted confession. He was sure as hell pissed that he he had essentially opened the door to telling her. Living away from Mystic falls had made him forget how quickly things happened there. Caroline looked at him nervously, her eyes moving over his face as if she could see what he was thinking.

"Tyler?" she prodded.

"I told Matt to take care of you," Tyler said, "I thought he was a good guy and that you-" he glanced away before looking at her again, "you deserved someone like that."

Caroline let out a hollow sound that could have been a laugh as Tyler grimaced. At the time the words made sense. But at the time they had thought Matt was a good guy and not a world class asshole. Caroline tilted her head to the side and smiled gently.

"That's actually really sweet," she said. Tyler raised his eyebrows, "well, I mean, not now, but that was before he even knew I was a Vampire."

"That's total bullshit," Tyler said, his voice dark, "being a Vampire doesn't change who you are," he stopped, "ok maybe it does. But that doesn't give him the right to b a dick," Caroline opened her mouth, "why are you defending him?"

"Vampires killed someone he loved," Caroline pointed out softly.

"And you thought I'd understand where he was coming from," Tyler finished, anger in his tone, "just because vampires killed someone he loved doesn't make it alright for him to hurt you!"

Caroline's head flew up at the anger in his tone and for a moment she couldn't tell if he was joking or not. He seemed to have absolutely no sympathy for what his best friend was going through and even if _she_ was the one Matt was technically trying to kill, the willingness he had to throw his best friend aside made her own temper flare.

"Oh really Tyler and what does?" she demanded striding forward, "does he have to, to what? To find out that I lied to him?" her vision blurred with tears "that the words of some chick whose been here for all of two seconds matters more than mine?" she was shouting but past the point of caring, "what? What makes it alright for him to hurt me?"

"Nothing makes it alright!" Tyler shouted back.

"Then why did you come to _my_ house?" Caroline demanded.

"Because you're the only person I feel safe with!"

"How do you think I felt?" she shrieked, her hand connecting with his chest in a desperate battle for something concrete to hold onto, "in spite of everything I felt safe with you and now every time I look at you all I see is that cage!" her hand drew back, burying itself in his chest agin, "you ruined it!" she shouted, "how could you?"

When her hand connected with his chest, she wasn't thinking about control or the fact that with little effort she could break every bone in his body. She wasn't thinking about the fact that she had promised herself she wouldn't do this to Tyler tonight, that they had both been through enough. She couldn't yell at Matt or her mother or any other piece of the messed up world that seemed to have turned it's back on her. There was only Tyler and even if it was in the most fucked up way imaginable, for the moment it was enough.

Enough, until the sound of something snapping reached her ears.

Caroline's eyes widened as a stifled groan managed to escape Tyler's clenched jaw. She jumped backwards, her hands flying up to cover her mouth as she looked with horror at the werewolf's pushed-in ribcage. Any normal human would be on the floor but Tyler was still standing and from the tightened look of pain on his features and the white knuckle grip he had on the bedpost, he would have let her continue to hit him without a second thought.

"Tyler-" she began, "I'm-"

"Wait," he gritted out, his eyes opening to reveal an amber color for the umpteenth time that night.

Caroline watched as his ribs shifted with an equally audible snap, the look of pain on his face receding as the injuries healed themselves. Within minutes he was back to normal, but those were more minutes he had to devote himself to healing. Healing because she had managed to somehow get him injured. When his head slowly rose up, the amber in his eyes remained, a testament to how close he had been pushed that night.

"Tyler," she shook her head, "Tyler what are we doing?" she asked, her throat still tight.

"We're-" Tyler began before hesitating.

Somewhere in his head he had been asking himself the same question all night. He was sure if things hadn't gone to hell right before he clumsily pressed his lips to hers, he'd have been asking himself the same thing months ago. He had no business being with Caroline Forbes, not as the peppy, pretty girl who had stolen his best friend away and certainly not as the Vampire who had been ridiculously stupid and brave and stayed with him when he turned into a wolf the first time. Who didn't care that he was the school jerk who hated for people to see had emotion, let alone that he was swamped with guilt and fear.

Even the other werewolves who seemed impressed by her bravery had been worried about him and the way he spoke about her. Vampires and werewolves were enemies, dating back to some ancient blood feud almost as old as the species themselves. Maybe one of them had been destined to fuck it up from the very beginning.

"I've been checking my messages," he said, "my mom's begged me to come home, Matt's checked in on me, Elena did too. And yeah, I felt like an asshole not calling them back but I had to figure out what I was," he looked at her, "but when Matt told me you were in trouble I pulled an illegal u-turn before he was done confessing to get back here," he shook his head, "and yeah, this is fucked up. And I get why you're mad at me," he continued hesitantly, half hoping she'd tell him he was wrong, "but the only time any of this was worth it was when I was with you."

Confessing feelings was another thing that went on the list of necessary skills that Tyler was shit at. But he'd managed to get the words out of his mouth without getting angry or maiming something, so he figured it was a step in the right direction. Or he would have if the blonde girl hadn't been staring intently at the floor, apparently unable to look at him. Suddenly Tyler found himself irrationally wishing he hadn't been such a coward with Vicki, so that he'd have something to go on instead of flying blind like he was now.

"Even with the other wolves?"

The inquiry was soft, tentative and tinged with shame but it was about the most wonderful thing Tyler had heard since he came into the room.

"Yeah, Car," he said with a grin she couldn't see, "even with the other werewolves."

Caroline looked up at him, her eyes meeting his and for the first time in a very long time, she felt like a normal teenage girl. A hundred cheesy movie lines ran through her head, even though the situation couldn't have been less movie-like if they tried. Everything was out in the open. Everything they had lied about, everything they had done, everything that tore them apart only to have them find their way back to each other. And even though she had tears in her eyes and was certain Tyler saw her as even more neurotic than before, a smile tugged at her Caroline lips.

"Okay, then we make it work," Caroline said.

"Huh?" Tyler looked confused, clearly not expecting her to agree so readily or really at all.

"We make it work," Caroline said, injecting a note of firmness into her tone, "but you've got to promise me that you aren't going to beat up Matt and that you aren't going to run away again," abruptly she stuck her hand out.

"Are you serious?" Tyler questioned, looking at her hand and then at her face, not sure if he found her willingness to agree or her clear expectation of him shaking her hand to be more unbelievable.

"_Tyler_."

"Okay, okay," Tyler said, not willing to push his luck before reaching towards her hand, "no lies," he added quickly, feeling like a five year old a slumber party, "not even to protect," he continued, shoving the feeling aside.

"No lies, no running and no beating up Matt," Caroline repeated, her hand still out there.

Tyler slowly reached out and wrapped his too hot hand around her cold one to seal the deal.

The heat that rushed through his eyes was instantaneous but the pain of his irises shifting color was minimal compared to what usually followed the rush of heat. Swearing he looked down and tried to pull his hand away but her fingers tightened around his.

"No, wait," she said, "look."

He looked up to see her own features give way in response, the darkened veins swelling around her eyes as darker red filled them. Her lips parted as her jaw opened to accommodate her elongated fangs. Tyler swallowed thickly, surprised in spite of himself to see the look on her face. He'd seen her in her true Vampire face before but she'd always been hissing at him. Here she seemed in full control of everything, it just looked like she was wearing some kind of mask.

"Does it hurt?" he asked.

"Only my jaw," she said her speech slightly impaired thanks to the fangs, "my eyes get itchy though."

Their hands remained locked together, sealing their promise even long after it was time to let go. When Caroline felt his grip start to hesitantly loosen, she released his hand, figuring she had made her point about their true nature being shown to one another and neither running from it.

"Do you want to do that every time?" Tyler asked, "because my eyes don't-" he motioned upwards, "it's just close to the full moon."

"Right. And it's been a really long night," Caroline said, "but no, my Vamp face doesn't want to come out every time we make contact."

Tyler nodded, not sure why he was so relieved at the idea that every time she touched him Caroline didn't think he was a total threat to her safety. Promise not to run or no, she'd still admitted to him that when she looked at him she saw the cage where she'd been tortured. Because he only felt the urge to go werewolf when it was close to the full moon, even though she could kill him any time she wanted too.

"Now," Caroline said, "you need to rest," she continued. Tyler opened his mouth, "yes, Tyler," she said sternly, knowing he was going to protest, "the healing helps but it's not everything."

"Yeah," Tyler said finally, knowing that she was right even if sleep was the last thing on his mind, "goodnight Caroline," he said.

"Tyler?" she stopped him as he reached the door, "I'm glad you're back."

He turned around to look at her.

"Me too."

* * *

**God I wanted them to kiss so badly! But their emotions were all over the place enough without the making out thing. Plus given how she got upset at him for what he did, I didn't think she'd be jumping his bones or that he'd let her.**

**Anyhoo I've got a 2x20 compatible oneshot that I'll probably put up within the next few days. Not as a continuation of this one, though I might do a third shot of if there's interest. **

**Hope you enjoyed it!  
**


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